Crisis shows we can make a better society

It was encouraging to read the number a letters thanking NHS staff, carers, council workers and many other key workers like those in the postal service, retail and transport.

All have shown incredible bravery, skill and resilience while helping to keep us safe as much as possible during the Covid-19 crisis and deserve not only our gratitude but going forward, decent pay and conditions too. At the start it was clear that the government’ s strategy lacked coherence and decisive action making it more difficult to initially respond at local level but now that the measures put into place are having a positive impact we can reflect on what has been learned.

The fragility of the so-called gig economy has been exposed, we can see that many workers live from month to month with little security and in times of trouble big business has simply turned to the state for support. Actions have been taken which in the past have been ridiculed: the railways have been virtually nationalised, private bus companies have received state funding to keep going and more government money has enabled our council in Medway to work innovatively, finding homeless people accommodation by working with the hotel sector, delivering free food to thousands on the shielded list, getting money to businesses who need it and setting up a hardship fund for those who can’t pay council tax, while private landlords have been prevented from evicting those in rent arrears.

At national level we have seen how important it is to work with other countries, both in Europe and the wider world. The idea of Britain forging a future alone now looks fraught with danger because the Covid-19 crisis has shown that we need each other sharing resources, knowledge and science to recover. Amid the sadness and loss for so many, the crisis is teaching us that we can be a better society where public services are funded instead of being starved of cash, in which we do whatever it takes to keep our workforce safe and secure and make the best of each other at home and in the wider community.

There will be work to do but I am hopeful that when restrictions are lifted we can retain the momentum towards a fairer, richer life for everyone. Cllr Teresa Murray (Lab)